Once the NCAA announced it would crack down on hand-checking and other forms of physical defense, you were not alone among college basketball fans if you wondered whether Ohio State star Aaron Craft suddenly would resemble a fading baseball slugger who no longer could juice.

Craft had earned a reputation as the best on-ball defender of his generation. He was named the 2012 Big Ten defensive player of the year. In five meetings with the 2012 Big Ten freshman of the year and the 2013 national player of the year, Craft humbled Michigan’s Trey Burke to the tune of 36 percent shooting, 4.4 turnovers per game and a scoring average of 13.2.

“He’s gotten one of the worst raps … Everybody talks about this and that, and somebody probably once wrote that Aaron fouls. But he doesn’t. If you watch, he doesn’t foul. He knows the situation better than the players know it, the officials know it, the coaches know it. He’s smarter than all of us out here. He’ll figure out immediately what he needs to do and how he needs to do it.”

Matta repeated his stance a week later at the Big Ten’s basketball media day, when he declared, “If they stay with what they're saying, it's going to affect the bad defenders."

That certainly would not include Aaron Craft. With his ability to control the point of attack, the Buckeyes ranked among the top 20 in defensive efficiency in each of his three seasons without ever being an elite shot-blocking team (and overall being pretty lousy at it).

Craft’s lateral quickness—“as good as anyone I’ve coached,” Matta said—allows him to move his feet and stay in front of ballhandlers. The strength in his core and base make it hard for opponents to knock him back.

“I think my feet are still quick enough. I’m getting a little old. I think they can still function,” Craft told SN. “So I’m excited, excited to see what this does. And hopefully it’ll open up some things on the offensive end, too.

“The biggest thing they’re telling me is if it’s constant contact, they’re going to call it. Two hands has always been a foul. If you’re constantly riding someone with your hands or your arms, they’re going to call it. It could be good; could be bad. We’ll figure it out. We’ll adjust. It just makes us play better team defense.”

It certainly would help Ohio State if other teams struggle to contain the drive. His partners on the perimeter, notably Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson, are more adept at slashing into defenses than firing 3-pointers.

Late last season, after struggling to become a more productive offensive player, Craft surged down the stretch with a pair of games against Michigan State in which he reached the 20-point mark. His 12-point average over the final 11 games helped the Buckeyes to win 10 straight before falling in the West Region final to Wichita State.

“When I’m patient, when I’m in control, I can play pretty good basketball,” Craft said. “It’s when I’m trying to go really fast, trying to make quick decisions a little too quick, that’s when I get into trouble. We just took a step back, exhaled. You’ve been in the battles, take your time, make the right reads.

“I think at first I tried to press a little bit, force the issue a little too much, whether driving into spots I shouldn’t be or forcing passes. The great thing about basketball, more likely the simpler the play, the better the basketball that it is. We just got back to making smart plays, making easy plays.”

Whether there’ll be basketball for him to play following this season is another topic observers like to debate about Craft. He is a pre-med student and spent part of this past summer enduring some of his toughest academic courses, another part attending the skills academies run by Deron Williams and LeBron James, and one final week on a mission trip to Haiti.

“We’ve won 94 games in his 3 years. He’s been a huge part of those wins,” Matta said. “I have great faith when he’s on the floor that good things are going to happen.”